Intel and Lenovo’s computers-on-a-stick look great and work as expected, but none of them features the added functionality of Ainol’s Mini PC.
Chinese tablet and PMP manufacturer Ainol (which, as Linus Sebastian pointed out in an unboxing video from 2010, doesn’t have the most fortunate of names), took advantage of Intel’s Bay Tray CPU and launched its own portable PC.
Despite its 7000mAh battery, which enables the Mini PC to function without an external power source, and helps the device double as a power bank, Ainol’s portable computer weighs only 335g (some sources claim 485g, though) and measures 146x115x14mm, which means it fits without any problems in the back pocket of your jeans.
As far as technical specs go, Ainol’s Mini PC is powered by a 64-bit Z3735F quad-core CPU clocked running at up to 1.8Ghz, along with a 7th-gen Intel HD GPU. For memory, the device packs 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 32GB of ROM, which can be furthermore expanded via microSD cards of up to 64GB.
As mentioned before, the Mini PC can work without an external power source, and the 7000mAh battery provides enough juice for 10 hours of work or 40 hours of stand-by. Besides that, the battery is capable of fully charging an iPhone 6 twice.
In terms of connectivity, it features Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, along with USB 2.0 ports and mini HDMI. If you need an Ethernet connection, you should get an Ethernet to USB adapter and plug it in. Other than that, the wired and wireless options that were already provided by the manufacturer should suffice.
Not at last, this portable computer comes with Windows 8.1. I assume that the Bing version was included, and the fact that it has a license is great. Considering the specs, this would make a decent computer not only for multimedia playback, but also for light office work. After all, Windows 8.1 with Bing is not as hungry for resources as its fully-fledged version.
Back in February, when it first went on sale, the Ainol Mini PC had a price tag of $160, with some stores taking pre-orders for it for $128. Since then, the competition between brands and resellers has become even tougher, and now GearBest is able to sell it for $97.87, which is a fair price, considering the decent specs and the power bank functionality.
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